“For we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a house, not built with (human) hands, which is eternal in the heavens.” II Corinthians 5:1
Last weekend I was blessed to officiate the wedding of a family member held at a venue just outside my hometown of Sanford, N.C. The wedding was joy-filled with lots of laughter and music, and even a healthy dose of post-nuptial-dancing. I was traveling separately from my wife, Cathy, returning from a trip to our southern border, near McAllen, Texas. Cathy reached my hometown first, doing some exploring. She texted, asking for the address of my childhood home. The address was 601 McIver Street – Sanford, N.C. I had lived there from the time I was born until the summer after I finished 6th grade. So imagine my surprise, when only a few minutes after the original text, Cathy forwarded this picture to me of my childhood home.
Needless to say, I was more than a bit stunned. I had probably not ventured to the corner of 9th and McIver in over a year, but this was not what I was expecting. As I reflect back on seeing this photo for the first time, I am grateful that I received this news from someone I love, rather than just driving up and seeing it for myself for the first time. Cathy was thoughtful enough to park the car and get out to look around. She spoke with the neighbors who live in the house across the street. The Rojo family happened to be out in their front yard, and told her how they had called their house (across the street) “home” for the last twenty-five years. The wife spoke of how much they loved the neighborhood.
Cathy was also thoughtful enough to harvest a couple of the remaining bricks found among the rubble. You may not know it, but Sanford was once known as “The Brick Capital of The World.” A little later in the day we went back, together, and I harvested a couple of more bricks so my mom and siblings could each have one for themselves. In some ways it feels silly to harvest bricks from the rubble of a former home. But in another way, I am finding those bricks are helping me to make sense of this loss. They also are helping me to remember the many gifts this place once brought to my life, and will continue to as long as I have memory.
Paul (The Apostle) was a bi-vocational missionary evangelist. He was a tent-maker by trade. For a season of his life, he set up shop in the Agora of ancient Corinth. (think mall/marketplace) When Paul wrote to the house churches in Corinth, his use of the language, “earthly tent we live in,” reminded his readers that he knew a thing or two about tents. Paul understood how tents were meant for those who are on the move. They provide opportunity for mobility, but they also can blow over in a strong wind, or leak when the rains come. While Paul was likely referring to our human bodies, and their temporary nature, we can also see how the same language works to remind us of the temporary nature of any and all things fashioned by human beings – even the places (houses) we call, “home,” or “church.”
Paul uses the Greek word: “oikia” to name this, “house not made with human hands.” Doctor Luke used the word: “oikos” when he reminded his readers that Joseph, “went up to Bethlehem, because he was of the house (oikos) and lineage of (King) David. (Chpt 2) Both words point to more than buildings. Each, by implication, points to relationships – to family. Tents and buildings will all crumble at some point, but God’s family is eternal.
The Baptismal Covenant reminds us that, “The Church is of God, and will be preserved until the end of time.” (Covenant III) What is “preserved” is not the buildings, or even the liturgies, but the relationship with God through Jesus. Yes, we all must admit that there are times when the church we can see, makes it difficult to see the Church God is still constructing, and preserving. Nevertheless – we press on. We continue to move through these unprecedented days of change and transition, and as we do, we can stand on the rock-solid good news:
Jesus is the Head of the Church (God’s family).
When the winds come, and when the rains threaten to sweep us all away, Jesus is capstone who holds us all together – the foundation which life’s storms can never tear down, burn down or wash away… Thanks be to God!!!!!
How Sweet The Sound,
Jon (the Methodist)